County administrators believe it may be the first time the county has sold an easement for public land.
Clark County Director of Utilities Alice Godsey said the county purchased 167 acres in 2007 to eventually develop a wellfield on the property, as a backup water source for the Park Layne area.
“B-W Greenway approached us about their interest in pursuing a conservation easement on the property,” Godsey explained. “The conservation value primarily relates to the property’s proximity to the Mad River.”
Clark County will receive compensation for the conservation easement in exchange for the commitment to protect the land from commercial or industrial development.
Development of a well field is an allowable use under easement and the county will retain ownership of the land.
Closing on the easement should occur by July 1, 2010, depending on when B-W Greenway gets grant money to cover the cost, Godsey said.
Godsey and County Administrator Darrell Howard agree that the utilities department will use some of the funds for future development of the wellfield and use the remaining funds to pay down some of $480,000 in outstanding debt on the property.
Commissioner John Detrick commended Godsey and her staff for securing the deal.
“We’re preserving the land and keeping costs stable for utility customers,” Detrick said.
BW Greenway Community Land Trust is a Mad River Twp.-based nonprofit that acquires land in the region to preserve open space.
It was created in the 1990s and its holdings include Anderson Fen, an eight-acre site on Enon Xenia Pike used for research by Wittenberg University students, and the Estelle Wenrick Wetlands near Medway.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374 or boutten@coxohio.com.
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